Capped nut

ABSTRACT

A nut which has a conical end extending into a cylindrical land portion. The land portion connects the conical end with a chamfered portion of the nut head which is covered with a hard corrosion resistant cap extending all around the sides of the nut head. The cap is crimped around the upper end of the nut head to retain a disc or button to close the cap of the nut. The portion of the cap adjacent the chamfered portion of the nut head is formed into a radial flange, which in assembly is crimped against the chamfered portion of the nut head to provide a secure sealing engagement of the button on the nut.

United States Patent [72] lnventor Joseph W. Chaivre Royal Oak, Mich. 2|Appl. No. 825,331 [22] Filed May 16,1969 [45] Patented June 22, 1971[73] Assignee Towne Robinson Fastener Company Dearborn, Mich.

[54] CAPPED NUT 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 85/35 [51] lnt.Cl Fl6b 37/14 [50) FieldotSearch 85/35,53,54, 55

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 336,808 2/1886 Higgin 85/35347,240 8/1886 Higgin 85/35 2,178,160 10/1939 Berry 85/35 2,694,997 11/1954 Alger 85/55 3,364,806 1/1968 Chaivre 85/35 FOREIGN PATENTS524,699 8/ 1940 Great Britain 85/55 Primary Examiner-Marion Parsons, Jr.Attorney-Hauke, Krass, Gifford and Patalidis ABSTRACT: A nut which has aconical end extending into a cylindrical land portion. The land portionconnects the conical end with a chamfered portion of the nut head whichis covered with a hard corrosion resistant cap extending all around thesides of the nut head. The cap is crimpcd around the upper end of thenut head to retain a disc or button to close the cap of the nut. Theportion of the cap adjacent the chamfered portion of the nut head isformed into a radial flange, which in assembly is crimped against thechamfered portion of the nut head to provide a secure sealing engagementof the button on the nut.

PATENTEUJUNZZIBYI 3.585900 JOSEPH W. CHAIVRE ATTORNEYS CAPPED NUTBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention relates to fasteners, and more in particular to a capped nut,which cap completely encases the nut head and which, in assembly, coversthe normally open end of the nut for protection of the threads of thenut against corrosion and to provide a pleasing appearance, and which isadditionally provided with a colored button insert.

2. Description of the Prior Art Plated or capped nuts are known in theart, which provide a protective covering of bright, hard, corrosion andsubstantially wear resistant material for the nut to protect the nutagainst corrosion and damage by the use of a wrench and for decorativepurposes.

Such a capped nut is, for instance, disclosed in my US. Pat. No.3,364,806.

Capped nuts are also known, which are provided at the outer end with adisc or button insert to cover the threaded aperture of the nut and toprovide an attractive appearance.

In these known nuts, however, difficulties have been encountered insecurely retaining the disc or button insert within the cap of the nutin a manner preventing it from being accidentally dislodged. Due tothese difliculties, the discs or button inserts in the known nuts aregenerally loosely retained in the cap, and this permits moisture anddirt to penetrate past the disc and into the threaded aperture of thenut, thereby causing corrosion of the threads of the nut.

A flanged nut provided with a button insert has been disclosed anddescribed in US. Pat. No. 3,379,214 to E. Firth et al. The nut of thispatent, however, is not capped for the purpose of providing a pleasant,shiny appearance. Further, there is no showing in the patent of themethod of the present application of securing the cap to the nut toprovide an integral flange in such fashion as to serve to securelyretain the cap on the nut and at the same time provide a secure mountingof the button or disc member to the nut.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an improved nutprovided with a cap of stainless steel so as to produce a pleasingappearance. The nut and the cap are constructed such as to receive andretain a colored button or disc insert at the outer end of the nut. Thebutton is retained by a crimped marginal edge of the cap, which pressesthe disc onto the outer end of the nut and the other end of the cap isformed into a radial flange abutting against a cylindrical land portionof the nut adjacent a conical end of the nut. Adjacent the cylindricalland portion, the nut is provided with a chamfer disposed at an angleidentical to the angle of the conical end of the nut. By thisarrangement, when the nut is tightened on a stud, any member to beretained by the flange of the cap of the nut causes the flange to rideup on the chamfer of the nut provided adjacent the cylindrical landportion of the nut and to thereby tighten the cap onto the nut, and tothereby cause increased pressure to be exerted by the crimped edge ofthe cap on the colored disc or button insert. This provides an efficientseal between the nut, the cap, and the insert, preventing the entranceof moisture and dirt into the nut.

Additional advantages and novel features of the present improved cappednut will become apparent or will be particularly pointed out in thefollowing detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following detailed descriptionrefers to the attached drawings, in which the same referenced numeralsrefer to similar parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective illustration of the the nut assembly shown novelcapped nut assembly;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross section through the nut as sembly shownin FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the nut assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the nut assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the nut assemblyshown in FIG. 2 illustrating the particular flange retaining means;

FIG. 6 is a cross section through a cap member used to cap the nut shownin FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a cross section through a further embodiment of a capped nutassembly according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIGS. 1 to 6,the capped nut assembly 24 is of improved construction and comprises anut 26 generally made of a low carbon steel. The body of the nut ispreferably hexagonal in shaped to provide a plurality of planarangularly disposed adjoining surfaces 28 adapted for engagement by asocket, wrench or the like for tightening or loosening of the nut. Thenut 26 is provided with a central threaded aperture 30 adapted, inassembly, to engage the threads of a stud or the like (not shown).

The bottom of the nut 26 is provided with a radial conical surface 32,which extends into a cylindrical land portion 34. Adjacent to the landportion 34, the radial outer surface of the nut is chamfered, as at 36,preferably at an angle parallel to the angle of the conical surface 32.The top of the nut 26 is provided with a flat planar surface 38centrally located around the threaded aperture 30.

A cap 40, illustrated separately in FIG. 6, covers the radial outersurface of the nut 26, and is preferably made of bright, polishedstainless steel to produce a shiny appearance. As described inapplicant's prior US. Pat. No. 3,364,806, the cap 40 is made of sheetmetal, preferably of a thickness of between 0.015 inch and 0.030 inch.As particularly noted in FIG. 6, the cap 40 is formed to closely matchthe contour of the nut 26 and the bottom end of the cap is provided withan increased diameter portion in the form of a skirt 42, which forms aradial shoulder 44 around the lower portion of the cap 40. The top 46 ofthe cap 40 is provided with a central aperture 48 formed by an inwardlydirected depression in the shape of a conical rim 50. In the completednut assembly, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the cap 40 is drawn tight overthe nut body 26 so that, normally, the edge 52 of the conical rim 50 ofthe top aperture 48 of the cap will abut the planar top surface 38 ofthe nut. The skirt portion 42 of the cap is bent around the shoulder 44to form a radial flange 54 having a central aperture providing aninternal radial edge 56, which, in assembly, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5,is adapted to be seated on the cylindrical land portion 34 of the nutbetween the conical end surface 32 and the chamfer 36. The flange 54 isdisposed at a right angle to the radial surface of the cap 40, as can beseen in FIGS. 2 and 5, and is adapted to lock to cap 40 on the nut 26since the flange cannot move beyond the chamfer 36 of the nut.

As herein specifically disclosed, the cap 40 of the nut assembly 24 isadapted to retain a disc or button insert 58 on top of the nut 26,which, in assembly, will close the cap aperture 48 and simultaneouslythe threaded aperture 30 of the nut. In assembly, as shown in FIG. 2,the disc 58 will be visible through the cap aperture 48 and for thatreason is preferably colored so as to provide a convenientidentification mark, as well as for aesthetic purposes. The disc 58 ismade from relatively thin, flat sheet material and, although a syntheticmaterial is preferred due to the ease of coloring, any other suitablematerial may be used.

The disc 58 is placed on the planar top surface 38 of the nut prior toplacing the cap 40 over the nut. After the cap 40 has been put in place,the flange 54 is formed to extend around the cylindrical land portion 34of the nut immediately adjacent the chamfer 36 and is then crimped asindicated at 55, in FIGS. 2 and 5, to thus securely lock the cap 40 onthe nut 26. By means of the crimping of the flange 54 around theshoulder 44, the cap 40 will be drawn downwardly upon the nut causingthe edge 52 of the cap aperture to be pressed onto the disc 58, therebyfirmly locking and retaining the disc on the flat top surface 38 of thenut. Thus, a tight sealing arrangement is provided between the disc andthe nut assembly to prevent the entry of dirt and moisture into the nut.

HO. 7 illustrates a further embodiment of a capped nut assembly, which,in this instance, comprises a long nut member 64 having an internallythreaded shank portion 66 extending into a hexagonal nut head 68. Thejunction of the hexagonal nut head with the shank portion provides ashoulder 70. The internal bore of the nut head is counterbored toprovide a ridge 72, which is adapted to receive the disc 58. Inassembly, the nut head 68 is capped with a cap 40 in a manner describedabove, except that, in this instance, the radial flange 54 of the cap isadapted to tightly abut against the shoulder 70 of the long nut and iscrimped as shown at 55 to thereby firmly lock the cap40 and disc 58 ontothe nut head 68.

Thus, it is apparent from the foregoing description that by the presentdisclosure an improved capped nut has been provided having means tosecurely retain a colored disc visible within the head of the nut andhaving resilient flange means to firmly lock the cap on the nut toassure a tight sealing engagement between the disc and the nut.

lclaim:

l. A capped nut assembly comprising in combination:

a nut having top and bottom surfaces, a plurality of planar sidesurfaces, an annular chamfer contiguous with the side surfaces andbetween the side surfaces and the bottom surfaces, and a threaded boreextending between the top and bottom surfaces, a cap of resilientmaterial disposed over the nut and having a plurality of side surfacesoverlying the side surfaces of the nut to prevent relative rotationbetween the cap and the nut, a top having an in-turned rim defining anaperture, a decorative disc overlying the top surface of the nut andengaged by said rim, said cap having formed thereon a radial flangedefining a flat, annular surface parallel to said bottom surface and aninternal radial edge which engages said chamfer such that tightening thenut against a fixed surface causes the radial edge to resiliently moveup the chamfer and force said rim into increasingly tighter engagementwith said disc. 2. A capped nut assembly as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid resilient material is polished stainless steel.

3. A capped nut assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said disc is madeof brightly colored plastic.

4. A capped nut assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said nut and saidcap are hexagonal.

1. A capped nut assembly comprising in combination: a nut having top andbottom surfaces, a plurality of planar side surfaces, an annular chamfercontiguous with the side surfaces and between the side surfaces and thebottom surfaces, and a threaded bore extending between the top andbottom surfaces, a cap of resilient material disposed over the nut andhaving a plurality of side surfaces overlying the side surfaces of thenut to prevent relative rotation between the cap and the nut, a tophaving an in-turned rim defining an aperture, a decorative discoverlying the top surface of the nut and engaged by said rim, said caphaving formed thereon a radial flange defining a flat, annular surfaceparallel to said bottom surface and an internal radial edge whichengages said chamfer such that tightening the nut against a fixedsurface causes the radial edge to resiliently move up the chamfer andforce said rim into increasingly tighter engagement with said disc.
 2. Acapped nut assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said resilientmaterial is polished stainless steel.
 3. A capped nut assembly asdefined in claim 1 wherein said disc is made of brightly coloredplastic.
 4. A capped nut assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said nutand said cap are hexagonal.